CREW: DOJ is a roadblock to open government

from CREW:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder expressing concern over the Department of Justice's (DOJ) failure to abide by President Obama's commitment to government transparency and accountability.

Despite policy directives from President Barack Obama and Attorney General Holder mandating a presumption of openness in administering the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), DOJ continues to operate - as it did during the Bush administration -- under a presumption of secrecy, deliberately withholding information about what DOJ is up to and why.

Read more here.

CREW Files Suit to Obtain SEC Reform Documents

The legal watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ("CREW"), filed a lawsuit seeking a court order that would require the SEC to provide documents the organization sought under FOIA on October 6. The group seeks records showing that the agency has implemented promised reforms in the wake of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme.

The SEC says it has not yet provided the records because of the voluminous requests, but a spokesperson says they expect to release documents regarding the reforms later in January.

Get more information here.

Millions of Bush Administration E-mails Found

The AP reports that computer technicians found 22 million missing White House e-mails from the George W. Bush administration as part of litigation brought against the Executive Office of the President in 2007 by two private groups - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive. The two groups alleged the Bush White House failed to install an electronic record-keeping system.

Before the emails are released to the public, the National Archives will have to process the records for release. The records won't be available until 2014 at the earliest.

For more details regarding the e-mail discovery, click here.

Obama embraces another Bush secrecy policy

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration after Secret Service rejected requests for White House visitor logs, the Washington Post reported. CREW specifically sought data on the visits of coal company executives but had submitted a broader request for logs that was also denied. Obama's administration says the policies are being reviewed.

President Obama has embraced Bush Administration justifications for denying public access to White House visitors logs even as advisers say they are reviewing the policy of keeping secret the official record of comings and goings.

In recent days, the Secret Service has rejected requests from two organizations for the logs, which document the West Wing meetings that have helped shape Obama's policies on banking regulation, economic recovery, foreign policy and the auto industry.

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration seeking release of the visits of coal company executives to the White House. Msnbc.com reported today that their broader request for logs since Jan. 20 was also denied.

More here.